Sibling Strain
by Sarcastic-Bludger
Summary: Harry and Hermione are closer than siblings, but Hermione has made a decision that could endanger that. Slight AU. Disregards Epilogue. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing except what I've done with the characters. Everything belongs to J. K. Rowling.**

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><p>Harry watched Hermione put Teddy to bed. The young boy's grandmother usually took care of him, but Harry got him one week every month. Hermione was the one to help him each week.<p>

She was good with Teddy. Sometimes, she was too good. Actually, Harry wanted to know how she'd gotten so good at taking care of small children. She didn't have siblings. The Weasley grandkids were actually younger than his godson. So where had she gotten the knowledge?

"Hermione?" He called out.

The brunette looked up. Today her hair was braided in a long plait, and she wore no makeup. Not that Hermione ever wore makeup. She was having a very, very casual day. Normally she would wear slacks and some blouse. Today she was in jeans and a tee.

"What do you want to do?"

If she wanted to work with kids, maybe she had babysitting experience? He didn't really see Hermione as the type to work with small children. Although, she was exceptional with Teddy. But Teddy was like her own child. Why would she not be good with him?

"I want to change the world."

"How?"

"I don't know."

But she did know. He knew she did. He knew her well enough to tell when she was lying, but he let her keep her secrets. Merlin knows he'd kept enough secrets of his own in the past.

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><p>It was Christmas Eve. Annually, Harry and Hermione visited his parents' graves at Godric's Hollow. The tradition began when they were Horcrux-hunting. Now, six years later, they continued to do so. It was a tradition that Ron never knew about. There was no real reason to tell him after all. It was a tradition kept between just the two of them. It was <em>theirs<em>.

Hermione raised her wand and the wreath materialized. She made the same wreath each year. Harry clutched her hand tightly. He tried to not cry. Hermione pulled him into her arms and rubbed his back.

"It's okay to cry, Harry. It's just me."

"Me and you," he whispered.

Hermione bit her lip. She tried not to feel guilty. How much longer would it be the two of them plus Teddy and occasionally Ron? She'd be leaving soon. She'd be leaving on the second day of the new year.

She considered staying. Merlin, how she had debated! But she was twenty-three, and it was time for her to pave her own path. The apprenticeship was only five years, but it was five years that she'd be in another country. It was five years she'd be on the other side of the continent.

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><p>She'd gotten the letter just six months ago. She'd been offered an apprenticeship with Professor Radka Iliev, the Ancient Runes Professor at Durmstrang. She would be staying with Viktor Krum, who she'd remained in contact with, when she wasn't required to be in the school itself. She would not get the chance to return to Britain at all during the apprenticeship, as an apprentice had to remain with his or her master or mistress for the duration of the apprenticeship. It just happened the Professor Iliev was Viktor's Aunt.<p>

She didn't feel bad about accepting the apprenticeship. Well, she did, but she was trying not to. She had every right to accept this. She had every right to reconnect with Viktor. She wasn't in a committed relationship. She and Ron broke up before they were twenty. Harry was her brother, not her date. And Teddy… Teddy wasn't her child. Not really.

But how would they take her leaving? Would Ron be upset about her staying with Viktor each holiday? Would Harry be upset about the lack of notice? Would Teddy ever adjust to her not being around?

She spoke fluent Bulgarian. She spoke fluent French. She spoke fluent Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Russian. She spoke Mandarin. She could go anywhere in the world to teach after she finished her apprenticeship. She could stay at Durmstrang, or go to Beauxbatons. She could return to Hogwarts. No, she wouldn't return to Hogwarts. There were too many memories there. Maybe she would go to the Salem Institute in America.

The point was, she was going to be gone for five years for the apprenticeship. That much was solid. That was set in stone. On the second of January in 2005, Hermione would be leaving for Bulgaria to begin an apprenticeship in Ancient Runes. She would not step foot in Britain until the second of January in 2010.

She just hoped Harry wasn't too upset with her. She hoped none of them were.

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><p>"You're doing what!" Harry's question was shouted. Hermione tried not to flinch. She looked down at her hands. She had a hesitant moment until she remembered her backbone. Her shoulders straightened like there was a steel rod between them. Her chin raised and her brown eyes met Harry's green ones.<p>

"I am moving to Bulgaria for five years to complete an Apprenticeship in Ancient Runes with Viktor Krum's Aunt, the Professor Radka Iliev. I will not be returning to London for five years."

Harry stammered. He fought outrage. This was Hermione! She was his constant. How could he help raise Teddy without her? What would the boy do without his Aunt 'Mione? What would _Harry _do without Hermione? She was his sister. She couldn't leave. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him?

He voiced these thoughts. The immediate response was a flash of hurt across Hermione's face. He felt bad. He didn't want to hurt her. But she was hurting him!

"Of course I know what I'm doing. I'm uprooting all of your lives. I'm changing things. But, Harry, this is my chance. I'm twenty three for Merlin's sake and I'm no closer to a career than the Chudley Cannons are to the World Cup. I'm going to do this no matter what you say. I'm leaving in a few days. Let me leave without pain. Let me leave knowing that my relationship with my brother is intact."

Harry smiled softly. "Will you write?"

"Always."

"We should probably tell the Weasley's."

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><p>The Weasley clan did not take the news any better than Harry had. Ginny and Molly took it the worst out of the lot of them. Hermione spent the rest of that night with her many nieces and nephews crawling over her. They hugged her and kissed her cheeks and begged her not to leave. Eventually, Hermione forced herself to get up and walk over to the fireplace.<p>

She wanted to stay. She desperately wanted to stay with her family and her friends, but she knew she couldn't. If she didn't leave now, she never would. If she didn't take this offer, she would never become anything worthwhile. She did not want a desk job at the Ministry. She wanted to teach. She wanted to mold minds not speak to walls! This was her chance, and she had to take it.

Even if it strained her relationships with the people she loved. Maybe that was selfish. Maybe she shouldn't do this. But she stopped caring. This was her choice. Damned were the people that protested.

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><p>Her things were packed. All that was left to do now was the actual departing.<p>

It was Harry's turn to have Teddy. Hermione was having a very heartfelt goodbye with the boy. Harry stood in the doorway looking on. When the clock struck twelve, Hermione knew her deadline had come. Her portkey would leave in five minutes. Now was the time for her final goodbye with Harry.

"I don't know if I'm ever going to come back to Britain."

Harry nodded. He'd been anticipating this. If he could, he would leave too. He couldn't though. He couldn't leave Teddy. Andromeda would never let him take Teddy with him. The Weasley family would never let him go. The British Ministry would never let him go. He was stuck, but Hermione wasn't.

"I've kind of been expecting you to say that, but I do expect to see you eventually. Whether it's is Teddy and I visiting you and Viktor and your British/Bulgarian rugrats, or it's is you lot visiting us, I don't care. I want to see you though. Eventually, letters won't be enough."

Hermione smiled and she threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you for not making this difficult on me. Thank you for letting me leave."

Harry clung to her. "I'm not letting you do anything, 'Mione. I'm just telling you I'm okay with you doing what you would've done even without my approval. Isn't that how we've always worked?"

She pulled back, and wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I guess it has been. Funny that."

Her portkey began to glow. Hermione grabbed her luggage, and then she grabbed the portkey. Harry smiling through his tears and waving was her final glimpse of the Boy-Who-Lived. It was the last time she would see him for several years.

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><p><em><strong>AN:<strong> So this was just my attempt at a one-shot. The prompt was something along the lines of "Harry and Hermione are closer than siblings, but one of them is going to make a decision to endanger that relationship". It's very open-ended, because it was about Harry and Hermione, not Hermione's five years as an apprentice. Anyway, I hope it was liked, and Merry Christmas to anyone who it's still Christmas for._


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